Garment



May 1, 1934. v. L. STEPHENSON GARMENT Filed Nov. 22, 1933 501:1 FLEX/51.5 RUBB R, FELT OR THE LIKE.

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(ATTORNEYS Patented May 1934 UNITED STA'rE-s 1,956,813 GARMENT Verne L. Stephenson, Goshen, Ind., assignor to Snuggle Rug Company, Goshen, Ind., a corporation of Indiana Application November 22, 1933, Serial No. 699,105

4 Claims.

This invention relates particularly to infants garments and especially to sleeping garments of the class exemplified by the Bates Patent No. 1.556,?47, the Young Patent No. 1,735,521 and the Thexton Patent No. 1,875,525, and including crib covers, sleeping suits and sleeping bags for indoor and outdoor use. In garments of this type it is desired that the neck opening or neckband be so constructed that it may be adjusted no to fit closely around the babys neck, not simply for the sake of warmth, but in order that the child shall not be able to squirm out of the garment or get its face covered. Dif iculty has, however, been experienced in obtaining such close 16 fit without discomfort or danger. The object of the present invention is to overcome this difiiculty.

In the accompanying drawing,

Figure 1 is a face view of a sleeping cover emgo bodying the features of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmental view, on a larger scale, showing the construction of the neck-band.

Fig. 3 is a similar view, on a still larger scale.

Fig. 4 is a transverse section through the neck- 535 band on dotted line 44 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4, but showing a tubular core.

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic representation of a prior-art neck-band.

While it will be understood that the present invention is applicable to sleeping bags as well as crib covers, I have shown it as embodied in a crib cover 1. As herein shown the crib cover comprises arm-covers or extensions 2, but they may be omitted, if desired.

The front of the garment is formed to provide a longitudinal opening through which the child may be inserted and removed, this opening being closed by means of a slide fastener 3 or by any 40 other desired method. The fastener 3 stops short of the neck opening 4, in order to keep metal parts away from the infants neck and chin, the intervening distance being closed by a flap 5.

The neck-band, as a whole, is designated A in l5 the drawing. It comprises a tubular portion A formed of fabric, the ends of which tubular portion may be brought into proximity to each other to extend around the babys neck. The ends of the portion A may be adjustably secured together in any preferred manner, as by means of a tape A attached to one end of the portion A and carrying a socket fastener A adapted to snap over any one of a number of stud fasteners A arranged,

in a series adjacent to the other end of the tubular portion A.

approximately one-half inch in diameter.

Lying loose within the tubular portion A is an elongated, cylindrical core A of soft, flexible material, the core being of approximately the same length as the tubular portion and being The ends of the tubular portion are closed by means of stitches so as to retain the core in place.

The core A may be tubular, as shown in Fig. 5, or non-tubular, as in Fig. 4; It may be of any soft, flexible material, such as soft rubber, felt, as a fabric tube filled with cotton or kapok, or any other structure which is sufficiently soft and yielding to be comfortable, but at the same time possessing sufficient bulk, stiffness and stability as will prevent such folding or kinking as would seriously reduce the eifective diameter of the neck-band. This will be better understood by reference to Fig. 6, which is a diagrammatic representation of a prior-art neck-band a: formed of fabric. Assume that a baby has been tucked into a garment having such a neck-band: When the child changes its position the neck-band may become folded or kinked in the way indicated generally at y in Fig. 6; thus decreasing the effective diameter of the neck-band and producso in excessive and even dangerous constriction of the neck. The fold, tuck, kink or shortening y may happen in various ways; for example, babies being usually plump, a portion of the neck-band may be caught or squeezed in a fold of the skin 35 of the neck and pulled as the child turns, thus reducing the effective length of the neck-band.

My improved form of neck-band is designed to have sufficient thickness or bulk so that it cannot be held in a wrinkle of the neck. It should also be sufficiently thick so that it will not out into the neck; when subjected to pressure it should flatten so as to present enough surface so that it will not make a sharp indentation in the neck.

While softness is important for the sake of comfort, the core should preferably be sufficiently self-sustaining or stiff so that it will not form a sharp bend, as such a bend might in some cir-- cumstances cause objectionable reduction in effective diameter of the neck-band.

A non-tubular core of soft, flexible rubber which will yield readily to such pressures as occur between the neck and the bedding satisfies very well all the practical requirements, but the invention is not limited to such a core.

In use, the core A imparts a desirable degree of stability or shapelines to the neck-band A without any objectionable rigidity or hardness. The core A flexes to conform to varying degrees of pressure and various positions of the head and 110 neck as the child changes its position, but the proper diameter, or more properly speaking, the circumference of the neck-band is maintained at all times. It will be seen that the core keeps the tubular portion A sufliciently distended to its proper length at all times, thus preventing the adventitious formation of folds or tucks in the neck-band which would shorten its effective length. Hence, although the neck-band fits snugly around the childs neck, there is no danger of accidental constriction, nor any uncomfortable hardness or stiffness.

While the drawing shows the tubular portion as wholly free of wrinkles, it will be understood that in practice said portion, being made of fabric, will be more or less loose and will thus contain wrinkles or fullness. As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the core A does not completely fill the tubular portion, in length or cross-section.

I claim as my invention:

1. A garment of the class specified having a neck-band comprising a fabric portion, and a non-tubular cylindrical core covered by said portion, said core consisting of soft, flexible rubber of suflicient resistance and bulk to prevent kinking during use, and means for securing the ends of the neck-band.

2. A garment of the class specificed having a neck-band comprising an elongated member of soft, flexible rubber, having a rounded cross-sectional form and of sufiiciently large diameter, bulk and stiffness to prevent formation of kinks muse.

3. A garment of the class specified having a' 

